


A Stitch in Time Saves Four?

by Ness225



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Gen, more characters as story develops
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 16:54:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7626508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ness225/pseuds/Ness225
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James Ryan Haywood is a 31st-century scientist. The latest in his line to inherit an ancient curse, he formulates a plan to not only save him, but also save all of his antecedents from the madness and death that it causes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Stitch in Time Saves Four?

James Ryan Stephen Highwind Haywood looked out over the terraformed surface of his hometown and pinched the bridge of his nose.The view from Titan was always incredible, though one grew used to seeing Saturn looming overhead. Living further from the sun meant taking D supplements, but the artificial atmosphere and the geothermal vents made it comfortable enough that all one needed was a nice long-sleeved pullover when going outside. As a teleportation specialist, James was among the first volunteers to be accepted for transplant to the Titan colony, gaining his new fifth name, Highwind (a colonist location identifier). He stared at the sunset and the large, reddish face of the planet, and he allowed his mind to drift.

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Part of his research into teleportation involved intersystem teleporting. He’d successfully continued the work of a brilliant young man, Janus Albert Einstein-Mueller, who’d discovered that humans could slip through other dimensions as a “shortcut” to other places in the observable three. Regrettably, he’d been bisected during one of his teleportations when the interdimensional opening collapsed; half his body remained in his lab, but the other half remained in extra-dimensional limbo and hadn’t been recovered. The experimentation had been discontinued and de-funded due to “safety concerns.” That was three hundred years ago. 

James, however, had convinced the current scientific overseers that the work was a valid path to pursue, especially since the population had grown so much since then that there was really no spot on the planet that was uninhabited. He was successful in not only stabilizing the interdimensional openings, but also was able to expand them to envelop buildings. The buildings were then placed in the other dimensions for storage. Museums, ancient monasteries, even old cemeteries (and those at rest there) had all been moved in favor of more housing. 

The next logical step was teleportation between extraplanetary colonies. It wasn’t possible to travel to other planets using the same method of teleportation, and they’d been relying on antiquated shuttles to ferry people to the other colonies on Luna and Mars. Several million people lived on the moon, Mars wasn’t far behind, and was expanding even more as families were tested (Mars had some very tough living conditions) and accepted into the colony. James had been sent to Titan, and his research was fruitful. He was able to open a stable portal to Earth a few months ago. But before he went, he wanted to choose a suitable destination. 

Using the Omnibase, he began researching his lineage, to see where his family originated. James thought it would be fitting to “connect” the first generation to the current one, a symbol of how far they’d come as a family. He traced his family as far back as the Omnibase recorded, a small town in Scotland. Nice. There were very few small towns left on Earth. He looked at the real-time feed; it seemed charming. Should be a pleasant trip.  

The portal worked precisely as expected, and James had stepped out into a beautiful town square. He stopped at the local tourist agency and got directions to his old family homestead. The woman at the desk said there was actually a museum on the site that was dedicated to his family. Evidently they had been very important to this town.

Upon arrival at the museum, he introduced himself to the curator, who immediately took him to the archives, rather than the public side of the museum. There were many beautiful tapestries, armor, weapons (including a beautiful handmade axe and targe, and an impressive claymore) and... _ something else _ .

He should never have held the artifact. An infamous artifact, one supposedly responsible for several heinous misdeeds. It was said to be cursed, but James never put any stock in those old stories; Earth tales that lost their relevance centuries ago. Science could always explain what was once “magic.” He had no patience for small-minded nonsense like omens, ghosts, or cursed items. But insatiable curiosity had made him pick it up, turn it over, examine it, and--finally--wear it.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

James sighed at the remembrance and cleared his thoughts. He hadn’t told anyone--not even his wife Lauren--but he felt different since that day. He would become upset more easily, and setbacks in his lab often had him punching the wall in frustration; indentations covered a three-foot section, and every time James calmed himself, he’d look at the new marks and marvel at how strong he became when he was taken by his anger. But that hadn’t been all he’d experienced. During a verbal altercation with a colleague, James imagined the man kneeling before him with his head bowed over the executioner’s block. A headsman stood nearby, putting some finishing strokes on the honing of his great axe. He had shaken his head to rid himself of the image, but found himself smiling at the vision. Even now, he smirked at the remembrance.

There  _ was _ a curse, and the madness was creeping into his soul.

 

  
  
  



End file.
